The New York Times writes, “Who would have thought the nation’s first black president would have an optics problem? But his parade of second-term nominations so far is white, male, and of a certain average age (62.3, to be exact)” and included a front page photo that shows Obama meeting with 10 men (turns out Valerie Jarrett was there). Obama initially named four women to his Cabinet and he’s losing half of them so far (Hillary and Hilda). He still has Janet Napolitano at DHS and Kathleen Sebelius at HHS. His administration also includes U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, whose position is considered “Cabinet level.” The only immediate opening with stature roughly equivalent is White House Chief of Staff. To name a woman, Obama would have to throw top mentionees Ron Klain (former chief of staff to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden) and Denis McDonough (currently deputy national-security adviser) under the bus. WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS Responding to a question from NBC’s Chuck Todd about whether the picture “embarrassed” President Obama, press secretary Jay Carney immediately listed the names of women in the administration including Secretary(s) Napolitano and Sebelius, neither who would have been in the picture that spurred Wednesday’s discussion, as their departments do not deal with fiscal issues. “This president is committed to diversity,” Carney continued. “Look at the record.”
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Jan 2013
